This is my entry for the Bricklink Designer Program Series 1.

https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-1/309/The-Cloud-Chaser-Fantasy-Airship

It had to be created from bricks within a set palette.  So after looking at the bricks available I was inspired towards the idea of a fantasy/adventure airship/blimp. I started with the challenge of the blimp and how to create the correct shape (the easy part) while making it stable and without making it too heavy to be supported by two masts (the hard part!). To stay away from the weight of too many technics and plates as support structure I went with the roll cage (windscreen 64450). And a structure that I think is quite a pretty geometry. I liked it so much I wanted it to be a feature rather than an interior support, so this changed the blimp to a dirigible.

The ship body has an interior cabin with Murphy bed and kitchenette, front wheelhouse and back luggage compartment as part of the build. It can sit on the table both on or off the stand. The bricks used in the built model are accurate to the Studio design however the colours of them are about 95% there. Mostly due to inability to source them (rare or above budget). And of that 5% the majority of it is in the interior. In the final design you will not be able to see colours peeking through from lower levels. The most noticeable exterior colour difference is that the 64727 spike around the ship body is light blue grey here but navy in the studio design.

Not included in the rendered pictures are 12 stickered pieces (7 unique). Including the title sticker on the 4x4 tile at the base, and stickers upon the 2x4 white oval tiles at the center of each area of the dirigible. There are flexible hoses (part no. 27965) on the brick-built model of which only one is in the Studio model, in an approximate position along the panels of the dirigible. This is due to the part stretching in Studio.

For more photos and renders of The Cloud Chaser please visit my Flickr stream: https://www.flickr.com/photos/brick_art/

Recreating something built in real life in Studio was a learning challenge! But this has now been built, taken apart and rebuilt so many times to condense the steps and little submodels that I really hope other people will have the chance to build it.

Beautiful shapes and colors. The dirigible core is a work of art! I'm curious about it's geometry, are the roll cages (windscreen 64450) fixed at 45 degrees or a 3 4 5 triangle?

It's 45 degrees but it doesn't quite look like it because the roll cage's side lean vertically inwards. Then the exterior panels that are mounted on them are 8 studs wide on the horizontals and 6 studs wide on the diagonal placing to give the dirigible and plumper look.

 

This is insanely good! The construction is as interesting as the aesthetic and the shapes you have achieved are fantastic. 

Thanks so much for sharing it here and I hope things go well in the design contest 

That hull design is a true masterclass in geometry